Santra Devi and Others vs Sher Singh and Others

M. Jeyapaul, J.—The claimants aggrieved by the quantum of compensation fixed by the Tribunal have come up with the present appeal. The widow, two sons and widowed mother are the claimants. In the absence of any evidence to establish the exact age of the deceased, the Tribunal had taken the age found in the post mortem certificate and arrived at the age of the deceased at 50 and deducted 1/3rd of the income from the income of Rs. 4000/-assessed by the Tribunal towards his personal living expenditure.

Learned Counsel appearing for the claimants would submit that the Tribunal should have deducted only 1/4th of the income of the deceased as there are four claimants. It is his further submission that the multiplier of ''13'' should have been adopted taking into account the age of the deceased.

Per contra, Learned Counsel appearing for the driver and owner of the vehicle would submit that the Tribunal has rightly arrived at the compensation based on the available materials on record. It is his further submission that one of the sons who attained majority cannot be termed as one of the dependents.

The deceased had left behind a major son also. The major son being the legal heir of the deceased is also entitled to claim compensation alongwith the other legal heirs of the deceased. Further it is found that the major son was just 18-19 years old. Therefore, we cannot conclude that he had not depended on the income of his father at the time of accident. It is found that there are four claimants who filed the claim petition. As per Smt. Sarla Verma and Others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, when there are four claimants, only 1/4th income of the deceased towards his personal living expenses should be deducted. But the Tribunal has wrongly deducted 1/3rd of the income towards his personal expenses. Further as per the ratio laid in the above case by the Hon''ble Supreme Court, a multiplier of ''13'' should be adopted when the deceased who met with an accident died at the age of 50. But unfortunately, the Tribunal has applied the multiplier of ''11''.

In view of the above, a sum of Rs. 4,68,000/-( Rs. 4000x3/4= Rs. 3000x12= Rs. 36,000x13= Rs. 4,68,000) towards loss of dependency, a sum of Rs. 20,000/-towards transportation expenses, a sum of Rs. 28,000/-towards loss of consortium less Rs. 1,29,000/-towards contributory negligence attributable to the deceased Rs. 3,87,000/-with interest @ 8% per annum is awarded as compensation.

The compensation awarded to the claimants will be apportioned in the same ratio as apportioned by the Tribunal. With the above modification in the quantum of compensation, the appeal is partly allowed.